You are a reservoir of powerful resources. Your direction, focus and energy are constantly being tapped so you can keep making things happen—day in and day out.

The best way to make sure you don’t run out of energy is by mastering self-control. When challenges appear and fleeting emotions try to take over, don’t give in to them. Save your energy for more meaningful tasks.

It’s easy to run out of energy when you really need it, so here’s how to stop wasting it.

Now that Labor Day has come around again, it’s a good time to reflect on the concept of work. It sounds like a tiresome thing―Labor Day―but it’s a reminder that if you don’t enjoy what you do, you’re going to face some difficult challenges.

You can’t succeed without doing the work, so you’ve got to choose where you put your efforts wisely. Here are two good questions to ask yourself:

Does it fulfill me and make me feel good?Am I happy?

The answers should give you a good inventory of your passions―and when you need to make sure you’re still on the right path, dig deep for your purpose with this motivational message.

The quickest way to give up on your dreams is to doubt your ability to live them out.

Here’s the truth: You won’t get very far in life if you don’t believe in yourself. But at the same time, you need to have a natural confidence that inspires people to be on your side.

So are you over or under confident? It’s a tricky scale to balance. To be successful, you’ll have to position yourself somewhere in the middle. A person who is boldly humble has just the right amount of self-belief to go for everything they want—without an inflated ego.

If you want to make big things happen in your life, you’ve got to convince yourself that quitting isn’t an option. In your mind, you should be so committed to your goals that when an obstacle shows up, you immediately start looking for a way around it. I like to think of it like this: When a door closes, sometimes you have to go through a window.

But if things don’t pan out, don’t make excuses—make a new plan. Lay it all on the line. Give your best effort so that you’ll never have to wonder whether you had a real shot at your dreams.

One of strongest, most productive things you can do in life is keep moving forward. We all know that bad days don’t last forever, but when things get us down, sometimes we have a bad habit of staying down.

The longer you wallow in disappointment, the more effort it’ll take to overcome your setbacks. When you’re going through a rough patch, this is the motivation you need to push through.

There’s a reason hard work gets such a strong approval among high achievers. It really does work, and you can get pretty far just by buckling down and going for what you want. We need hard work to get to where we want to go, but it’s not always about going as fast as you can and never taking a moment to center yourself. Creating balance in your life is just as important as building a life.

That doesn’t mean things won’t get out of balance. It just means that when you’re beginning to lose sleep or family time, it’s up to you set things back in order.

When your life gets hectic, try these using these four tips to keep the most important things top of mind.

One thing that separates successful people from those who fail is their drive to get things done. Just because a storm is brewing outside, doesn’t mean their mood switches from ambition to apathy. Each day is a chance to improve, so they don’t plan their days according to the weather.

To make things happen, find the energy to make the most of your time. You can start by getting up early and attacking the day with everything you’ve got.

When you’re working toward something important, life is guaranteed to throw you a curveball—a difficult situation that you’ll have to actively fight your way through. It’s a fact of life. You’re going to feel some stress as life challenges you, but there’s no point in worrying before things actually happen.

To keep my stress in check, I try my hardest to stay present and, most importantly, in control. When you’re feeling overwhelmed, try using these six tips to refocus your mind.

If you don’t stop to take in the beauty of life or how many wonderful things we get to experience each day, your entire life might just pass you by. You can’t afford to start living at the end of your life, so do it now—live in the moment.

I know we all have goals we’re working toward, and striving for anything can get busy and consuming. But slowing down to appreciate how far you’ve come is just as important as seeing the destination.

So what will you do to start living for today? Here’s my personal approach to living in the moment.